http://www.boston.com/dailynews/340/world/Chretien_s_government_reeling_:.shtml

Chretien's government reeling from internal divisions

By Tom Cohen, Associated Press, 12/6/2002 02:02

TORONTO (AP) Canada's prime minister narrowly escaped a Parliament vote that could have forced a snap election, and the close call has highlighted how much his power has eroded since announcing his retirement.

The legislative wrangling Thursday in the House of Commons, where the Liberals hold 169 of the 301 seats, showed how badly the party caucus has divided since Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced in August he would step down in February 2004.

With former finance minister Paul Martin the front-runner to succeed Chretien as party leader and prime minister, Liberal Party legislators no longer can be counted on to follow the leadership's wishes.

That created a scene Thursday that was previously unimaginable House leader Don Boudria scrambling to count votes, then seeking opposition consent to withdraw a controversial spending measure rather than face a possibly fatal vote.

If the government lost the vote for an additional $46 million for its beleaguered gun control program, a snap national election could have followed because funding proposals are considered confidence motions in the Canadian system.

Instead, the request for more gun control money was withdrawn from a larger spending proposal, demonstrating how the caucus divisions have undermined Chretien's authority and strengthened the opposition.

''This is why Chretien isn't going to hold on,'' said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. ''He's toast. The only issue is how much longer.''

Legislators are more concerned with the future, most likely with Martin as prime minister, than with maintaining any loyalty to Chretien, he said.

The Liberal infighting has allowed the opposition Canadian Alliance and other parties in Parliament to score big political victories in recent months, he said.

First, Chretien lost a House of Commons vote on how committee chairmen are selected, signaling the start of a caucus revolt against the outgoing prime minister. Then his director of communications resigned last week due to a newspaper report that she was overhead referring to President Bush as a ''moron.'' The Alliance kept the issue alive in Parliament by raising questions three straight days.

Two longtime Chretien allies former defense minister Art Eggleton and former solicitor-general Lawrence MacAulay resigned from the Cabinet this year due to allegations of cronyism. Some Chretien loyalists alleged in private that Martin supporters leaked damaging information on the ministers to the opposition.

''The most effective opposition has been the Liberal caucus,'' Wiseman said. ''The locus of power has shifted from the prime minister to the caucus.''

The trigger that caused Thursday's showdown was disagreement over the 1995 gun control program. It is supported by most Canadians but opposed in rural areas and by hunters, who say it targets legal gun owners while failing to curb illegal weapons used by criminals.

An audit made public Tuesday by Auditor General Sheila Fraser detailed huge overspending on the gun control program, with a projected cost of $640 million by 2004-2005, more than eight times the initial estimate.

Some Liberal Party legislators said they were unable to support more money for the program so soon after the audit.

''Members on all sides of the House didn't like this particular line item'' in the measure, House leader Boudria said in explaining the withdrawal.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2002